Sign up for the Ludum Dare hackathon at Sony in Sweden

Will you be in or close to southern Sweden by late April? Why not come and develop games at the Sony office on the weekend of Ludum Dare. Since 2002, Ludum Dare (Latin for “to give a game”) has been a game development competition where participants develop games from scratch in a single weekend, either online or at a hosted location. And this time you can meet and collaborate with other developers by joining the on-site hackathon at the Sony office in Lund, Sweden. Follow the instructions in the post to sign up.

The first Ludum Dare for 2014 – Ludum Dare #29 – takes place from April 25-28, and at our office, we’ll have Sony staff on hand to assist teams, and Sony products for you to use in your development. These include Xperia smartphones and tablets, SmartWatch 2, and PlayStation 3 controllers, which we hope you’ll find useful in the hackathon. Besides the hackathon, participants can attend sessions covering game development topics, presented by industry experts. Food and refreshments are provided, and participation is free.

Samples of Sony devices (left to right, SmartWatch 2, Xperia Tablet Z, DUALSHOCK3 Wireless Controller, Xperia Z2) that will be available for the Ludum Dare hackathon in Lund.

So, what is Ludum Dare?
Imagine thousands of highly motivated game developers with various backgrounds and experiences working passionately online and together at locations by writing code and making graphics, to produce a game within 48 to 72 hours. Ludum Dare is all about the passion and love for the development, which is the engine behind this phenomenon. And while many enjoy it from the comfort of their home, some come to hosted locations, which allow them to meet up with similar minds and collaborate. The event has been going on since 2002, and is organised and maintained by a group of a group of full-time independent game developers in their spare time.

Prizes for the local Sony competition
While at the Sony office, we will also run a special “Sony competition” which we will offer attending Ludum dare participants to also join in. The focus of the Sony competition will be to develop for a mobile device, a PlayStation controller or SmartWatch 2.

To show our appreciation for teams participating at the Sony competition, we’ll be awarding prizes to those who go that extra mile to make their applications stand out. The prizes include PlayStation 4, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1 and SmartWatch 2.

It’s not a requirement to participate in the Sony competition when attending the event, you are most welcome to come here to only participate in the Ludum Dare online competition. Below you’ll find all the details for the Sony competition, along with the judging criteria. You’ll also find more information on our Ludum Dare Hackathon at Sony Facebook page.

Also, we will have a “drawing” for individual participants who don’t have team (but want to have one) so that they will be randomly placed in team. This will be done at the end of the Introduction and you can submit your name for the drawing from 20:00 to 22:00.

Rules for participating in the local Sony competition

A team may consist of 1-3 persons.

All team members must be on site.

The project must be made on site.

The project must involve a mobile device.

The project must involve the PlayStation controller or the SmartWatch 2 (or both).

Judging criteria for the local Sony competition

Difficulty.

Graphics.

Originality.

Fun factor.

Estimated user base.

For rules and judging criteria for the online Ludum Dare competition, please see the Ludum Dare rules page.

Venue & schedule for the local Sony event
The local Sony event takes place on-site at the Sony building on Mobilvägen 4 in Lund, Sweden.

Friday
20:00 – Doors open and people may set up their computers.
20:30 – Evening meal.
22:00 – Introduction.

Please note that the schedule may change, and more speakers may be added as we get closer to the event.

Important information

There is a limited amount of seats, and registration is first come, first serve.

Alcohol or intoxication is not allowed at the event.

Age of 18 and older is required

It’s free to participate.

Work alone or in a team.

Bring a team or form a team on-site.

Bring a computer to work with.

Rooms will be available to sleep in during the event, but are not furnished with bedding, has limited floor space, and will be shared with other participants. So you might want to bring a small air mattress, pillow and a blanket/sleeping bag.

Public transportation
There are three bus stations close by to the Sony Office in Lund, Lund Brunnshög V, Lund Höjdpunkten and Lunds Norra Trafikplats. You can use Skånetrafiken to search for bus departures and arrivals. If you are travelling from Malmö, you might want to use Lund Brunnshög V, and if you are travelling from Lund, you might want to use Lund Höjdpunkten. Once you arrive, go into the main entrance of the main Sony building.

Sony Lund entrance.

How to register
If you´re interested in participating in the local Sony event, or if you have a question, send an e-mail to hackathon_at_sonymobile.com (replace _at_ with @). By sending us an email to this address, you confirm that you have read and accept the terms and conditions of Sony Mobile’s Privacy Policy.